Jingle bells, RM tells, some staff to go away... via Skype

70 heads get early Xmas gift delivered in P45 wrapping paper

RM Education sprinkled some festive cheer among its staffers by confirming in a Skype call with them that redundancies are in the offing.

In a statement sent to El Reg, RM managing director Toby Black, confirmed "with sincere regret" that 70 people are to lose their jobs across the business, including 35 from the head office in Abingdon.

"Due to changes in market conditions and increasing pressure upon school budgets, RM Education have experienced a decline in demand for infrastructure hardware and associated installation services," he said.

"Although demand for products and services remain healthy across our portfolio, this trend requires us to respond and adapt accordingly by making some adjustments in order to secure a solid future."

He said cost-cutting will help it sell a "highly competitive service" to schools and other education establishments.

Black said the it will try to "support" employees "affected" by the redundancies and "assist them in finding alternative employment", including other positions internally.

The Oxfordshire-based business, which employs 1,600 staff, reported sales of £76.8m in the first half of fiscal 2016 ending 31 May, down 3.8 per cent year-on-year, and adjusted operating profit was £7.7m versus £6.58m.

RM's best days might just be behind it – revenues peaked at £380m in fiscal 2010 and have fallen steadily every year since. The gradual winding down of the Building Schools for the Future programme played a big role.